Aris keeps share of first in Group D by beating Trabzonspor

Aris Thessaloniki remained undefeated at home and retained a share of first place in Group D with a 78-70 victory over Trabzonspor Medical Park. Theodoros Zaras made 5 of 7 three-pointers en route to 23 points for Aris, which improved to 4-2. The outcome also gave Aris the potential tiebreak advantage over Trabzonspor, which won their Round 1 meeting by 3. Jamelle Hagins added 18 points and 8 rebounds and Okaro White scored 13 for the winners, who took the lead late in the first quarter and led by as many as 15 in the fourth before Trabzonspor rallied. Dwight Hardy led Trabzonspor with 20 points, Darius Johnson-Odom recorded 13 points and 5 assists, Novica Velickovic added 11 points and Andrija Stipanovic had 10.

Baskets by Michalis Pelekanos and Hagins gave Aris the early lead, however Sertac Sanli countered with a pair of scores around a Hardy triple to make it 6-7. Aris’s defense silenced Trabzonspor for several minutes, while Hagins put the hosts up 6. Triples by Hardy and Damian Kulig erased the difference, but a three by Zaras left Aris up 22-19 after 10 minutes. Zaras’s next two baskets extended the lead to 28-21. A three by Hardy and a three-point play by Stipanovic kept Trabzonspor close. Johnson-
Odom twice cut the deficit to 2 in the closing minutes of the half, but Slaven Cupkovic free throws made it 40-36 at the break.

White scored twice to establish an 8-point Aris advantage early in the second half. Velickovic and Stipanovic kept the visitors within striking distance until the Trabzonspor attack went cold. Hagins pushed Aris to a 50-42 advantage, but Hardy and Johnson Odom combined for 5 free throws to put 53-47 on the scoreboard through three quarters. Zaras and White made it an 11-point game in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Zaras’s fifth three-pointer took the lead to 66-52. The difference peaked at 15 before a late Trabzonspor rally made it a 6-point game, but Hagins iced the game from the line.

Head Coaches

PRIFTIS, DIMITRIS

Aris Thessaloniki

“Congratulations to the players for the reaction in today's game. I’m happy for our performance as a team against a good team. We approached the game defensively. We also had good three-point shooting at a crucial point of the game. It was important that we covered the difference of the first game in Turkey. Our group is unpredictable; the teams have shown that they have the potential to win everywhere. It's risky to predict what will happen, but I think we want reasonably one more victory to say that we are close to qualifying. We are happy with our achievements so far and we played really well."

MARKOVIC, NENAD

Trabzonspor Medical Park

"I want to congratulat Aris. It played very hard and it was so focused. You can see the turnovers. Both teams had 17 of them, but they took advantage of our mistakes and we didn’t. We had bad field goal percentages, and with such numbers you cannot win. We controlled the tempo of the game, then we gave them second chances, they played hard and won. Zaras was very good tonight."

Players

McNEAL, JEREL

Aris Thessaloniki

"It was a critical and difficult game today, because it came after two defeats in a row. We started the game strongly and we played well. We achieved the victory with a total effort. Me and some other guys were not good in the offensive part, but the bench guys stepped up. Zaras had an amazing game, so did Jamel Hagins and we got the win. We have a good team and many solutions, not just three or four players that can score."